Expressions
That carry an invidious meaning or some overtone of judgement.
unpleasant, especially because it is likely to offend people or make you unpopular 令人不快的,惹人反感的 【书面】
I don’t like baseball movies that go into slow motion when the batter hits a home run, to notify me that it’s a pregnant moment.
耐人寻味,意味深长的
pregnant pause/silence
He stopped, and there was a pregnant pause.
他停住了,那是个意味深长的停顿。
pregnant with sth
containing a lot of a quality formal 蕴涵丰富的…,饱含… 【正式】
Every phrase in this poem is pregnant with meaning.
这首诗的片言只语都充满深意。
... and the camps are infested with laconic men who have spent a lifetime appraising talent.
大批出没,让我想起前文中的swarm,也是指成群的。“that vast swarm of people who are famous for being famous...”
...spotted an empty seat next to a weathered man in his sixties who ...
经过风吹雨打的; 饱经风霜的
No subject is too specialized or too quirky if you make an honest connection with it when you write about it.
Honest在这里不是诚实的意思,也许是努力认真的意思
*honest work is done using your own efforts and without cheating 用正当手段的,努力认真的
I bet he’s never done an honest day’s work in his life!
我敢说他这辈子从未认认真真工作过一天!
Writing is an evolving process. Not a finished product.
There’s nothing more interesting than the truth... color is organic to the fact. Your job is to present the colorful fact.
Summary
1. 留意某些单词和表达方式中对性别的歧视;
2. 可以使用he or she、we和you(可以增强亲近感)来代替he,用通用词代替特指词,尽量使用无性别指向的词汇;
3. 修改是写作的精髓:
reshape-改变语句顺序;
tighten-增强思路的连贯(时间、地点、因果、转折),突出中心意义;
refine-注意语言的音律节奏、增加事实细节、使用生动而恰当的词汇(通过朗读来检查);
4. 非小说作者的任务是将有趣的事实用文字呈现出来,不需要画蛇添足地添砖加瓦;相信读者的智商,留下想象和思考的空间;
5. 根据兴趣选题才能更好地抓住读者。没有愚蠢、无聊、奇怪、太专业的话题,只要写得好,读者自然会愿意读。
Reflection
It’s interesting that Zinsser pointed out that “men get mugged; a woman who gets mugged is a shapely stewardess or an pert brunette.”It’s a classic act of materializing women, and we seldom notice that it could steal the point of the report. It almost turns a social news into a gossip news.
I’m also enlightened about the size of vocabulary that carrys a sexual prejudice. We should stay alert to these words and usage,and try to diminish the use of such expressions in our own writing.